Writing Book Reports Is Keeping This Guy Out Of The Slammer

By brewbooks on FlickrA federal judge in California is taking America's education problems into her own hands.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers granted the release of 23-year-old Otis Mobley Jr., from jail, pending trial, on the condition he read a book for an hour a day and write book reports, which he has to turn in, for 30 minutes a day.

Mobley was arrested on suspicion of attempting to sell a phony grenade launcher to an undercover agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms an Explosives, Joe Palazzolo reports for the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog. Mobley, his cousin, and a third partner, reportedly planned to rob the agent of $1,000, rather than sell a grenade launcher.

He's also accused of assaulting a federal agent, the Journal reports.

The Justice Department isn't too pleased with Rogers' ruling and filed on May 15 a notice of appeal in Rogers' court.

Before the most recent incident, Mobley was convicted of several misdemeanors and confessed to killing a man in self-defense in 2009 during a marijuana deal, the Journal reported. He was arrested but not charged for the shooting.

Mobley also has to undergo electronic monitoring and participate in drug and alcohol counseling, according to Rogers' orders.